


Bring Me Back to Earth

by iSaphura



Series: Coffee for Thieves [2]
Category: Lupin III
Genre: Companion Piece, Future AU, jigen plays devil's advocate, jigen the voice of reason, you dug your grave now you lie in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 19:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21142133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iSaphura/pseuds/iSaphura
Summary: Companion piece to "Somewhere Down the Road".Lupin made a decision, now he has to live with it. But before the night is over, Jigen is going to have a few choice words for his former partner-in-crime.





	Bring Me Back to Earth

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read "Somewhere Down the Road", go read that. Did you read it? Good, this fic takes place about forty minutes after that one ends.  
I had the rough outline for this around the time I wrote "Somewhere Down the Road", but only now wrote it down.

Lupin stared at the glass of wine on the table. He had put the kids to bed (finally) ten minutes earlier. They were still excited over meeting Zenigata, asking if he would come to visit again. Ren asked if they could go to Japan and meet his cat. Ari asked if they could also visit Uncle Goe.

It had been ages since he had been in Japan. Goemon rarely left the country but had extended an open invitation multiple times. Though the invitation was not so much an invitation to visit as it was an escape route should anything go wrong.

And things were on the edge of going wrong. For the first time in years, Lupin felt the familiar gnawing anxiety of being on the run. Before the twins, it had been a constant in his life, something he lived with and dealt with, a daily reminder that he was free. But when the twins were born – it was easier for him to think of their arrival in his life as their birth – Lupin had to make a choice. For the first year or so, the anxiety didn’t go away. He would spend sleepless nights watching from the window, waiting for law enforcement to pull up and barge in. He kept his gun hidden but within reach. He looked over his shoulder, kept a mostly low profile, was careful in public. Until finally the anxiety died down. It didn’t stop him from worrying or looking over his shoulder, but he stopped jumping at shadows and slept soundly in a bed and a house that was his own and not some temporary thing.

For the second time in his life, Lupin had found permanence. And it felt so good. Sure he missed the freedom and excitement of his previous life, but his new one was so much more rewarding in its own way.

But all of that had come to a screeching halt. It was impossible to avoid cameras completely, but Lupin did his best. Group pictures were the hardest to avoid, but he had his ways. He had had his picture taken over the years, but those weren’t published in major newspapers. While the photo wasn’t front-page news, it was page three or four, it was still a printed photo of him. A pit opened in the bottom of Lupin’s stomach as he waited to see what happened if anyone would notice. When nothing happened, Lupin figured no one had noticed. After all, it was a three-quarter profile, not fully in focus, and off to the side. He looked different, he was older. Anyone who would notice that wasn’t looking for him anymore.

Or so he thought.

The anxiety came rushing back like a tsunami when he saw Zenigata wandering about town. It threatened to swallow and drown him. His first instinct was to run; to close up shop, throw stuff in a suitcase, grab the kids and run. Pops hadn’t seen him, there was still time. But that would require taking the kids out of school. He could just hunker down, wait for Pops to leave. But if Pops was here then he wasn’t going to leave any time soon and while he wasn’t asking people if they had seen this man, he would start soon enough. It would only be a matter of time before a well-meaning neighbor pointed to the shop or home of Claude d’Albert.

So Lupin acted. He did the only thing he could think of. He confronted the threat head-on. He confronted Zenigata. He confronted his past.

It had been surprisingly pleasant if he was going to be honest. It had been literal years since someone had called him Lupin; at least, someone other than Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, or Ami. He felt a bit bad for missing Pops' wedding altogether, but other than that little had changed about the former police inspector. But despite all the pleasantries, Pops was still former-Inspector Koichi Zenigata: the man who dedicated his life to capturing Lupin the Third.

And Lupin the Third had invited him over for dinner.

“Fuuuuck…” Lupin moaned. He grabbed the wine glass and downed the contents in one swig; which was a shame really because it was a nice vintage. One of the best produced by any of the Rossellini vineyards.

Nothing for it, then. Lupin stood up and walked over to the fireplace. He tapped on a few bricks before one slid inward, allowing four others to swing open like a door. Inside was a phone, hopelessly out of date and out of juice. Lupin removed the phone and set about inserting the prepaid SIM card into it that he had bought when he first spotted Zenigata. Really he should have made this call then, but… Lupin located a charging cable and plugged the phone in. He had another glass and a half of wine while he waited for it to have enough of a charge to turn on and make a call. This time, he tried to enjoy it.

He knew the number by heart. Just like he still remembered every phone number they had ever had. He placed the phone to his ear and started pacing back and forth. The line rang once, twice, then a grumpy, gruff voice said, “Fucking Christ, Lupin, it’s three-twenty-seven in the morning.”

“Sorry Jigen,” Lupin said. “But… we need to talk.”

“What is it?” Jigen was instantly more awake, those four words stronger than any coffee.

“I had a visitor today,” Lupin said.

“Let me guess, the puppet master?” Jigen asked.

Lupin frowned. “No, thank god. It was Zenigata.”

Jigen was silent and then swore quietly. “How…?”

“A photo got taken, Yata noticed it, sent it to Pops, and Pops got on the first plane to Paris,” Lupin explained. “Arrived at de Gaulle this morning.”

"He what?"

"Then he rented a car and drove out here."

“...Did he see you?”

“We had coffee. He met the kids.”

There was a long pause. Lupin started pulling the phone away from his ear, bracing himself for the explosion that was about to happen. It had to happen. There were only three people in the world who could help him now: one would read him the riot act if he woke her up, one didn’t have a reliable phone, and the third, well…

“Arséne Lupin, what the fuck?”

Lupin flinched. It wasn’t the explosion he was expecting, but somehow it was worse. Jigen never called him by his full name, just as he never called Jigen by his. Except for the direst of circumstances. It was the final nail in the coffin of Lupin’s doubt regarding the past twelve hours. Yup, he had messed up. Maybe.

“Explain. Now,” Jigen demanded. “From the beginning.”

So Lupin did. He recounted the day’s events, from first spotting Zenigata, to confronting him at the café, to bringing him home, to him finally meeting Ari and Ren. Jigen didn’t interrupt, not once. He waited until Lupin finished.

“Arséne Lupin,” Jigen said finally. “What, in the name of Mike, were you _fucking THINKING_?!”

“What was I supposed to do, Jigen?” Lupin cried, before realizing how loud he was being and lowering his voice to an angry whisper. “He wasn’t going to just_ leave_. It’s Pops, once he’s got my scent he doesn’t let go.”

“That was before he retired! It’s been what, nine years? He could have just figured Yata got it wrong.”

“If he thought that, he wouldn’t have come.”

An ocean away, Jigen sighed. “You got me there. But hell, Lupin, why? The kids would have given you some cover at least. He’d be looking for you, singular, not a father with two kids.”

“But for how long? It wouldn’t take long for Pops to put two and two together once they realized I took the kids out of school and bounced.”

“It could have bought you a few days at least! You can get anywhere in a few days.”

Lupin collapsed onto the couch. What had he done? This wasn’t what he wanted. This wasn’t how he had wanted them to find out who he was. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. Ari and Ren didn’t deserve this. And now he might lose them…

“...Are you even listening?”

“What?”

“I asked if I should come over there,” Jigen said. “If we are activating Echo.”

“I… I don’t know,” Lupin said. “I don’t know what good that’ll do. And if everything does come crashing down you really should be as far away from me as possible.”

“Fair, but who’s gonna bust your ass out of jail?”

Lupin chuckled. “I’m perfectly capable of busting myself out, Jigen, but thanks for the offer. I haven’t let all my skills rust over.” Suddenly, his chuckle bubbled over into a full-blown laughing fit.

“What’s so funny?” Jigen asked.

“You realize what this means, right?” Lupin giggled. “I can finally send Pops a birthday present!”

“Birthday pres…?” Suddenly, it felt as if Jigen had teleported into Lupin’s living room. He could feel the ex-gunman glaring at him through the phone. “Don’t push your luck.”

The warning only made Lupin laugh more. He stuffed his fist into his mouth to try and muffle the sound. The strategy only kind of worked. He had picked out a present for Zenigata years ago, before all of this happened, it was sitting in the back of his closet. He had wanted to send it for years but…

“I should have given it to him.”

“Given him what?”

“The present! Oh well, I can send it in a few months.”

“Lupin enough about the goddamn birthday present!”

Lupin took a deep breath to settle himself. “Right.”

“Have you spoken to Albert?” Jigen asked.

“No,” Lupin scowled. “I haven’t. I’d rather not.”

“He’s the one who got you set up there, man. Asshole or not he deserves to know if there’s a storm coming.”

“If cop cars show up on my front lawn, I’ll let him know. Otherwise, he can go about his business pulling puppet strings. I don’t need a lecture from him as well.”

“I’m not – do you want me to lecture you on how stupid you were? Because I’d be more than happy to do that.”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Lupin, you went through all this so you could avoid all this. You were the one who wanted to raise the kids on your own. You were the one who wanted to settle down. You were the one who decided to risk it all and talk to the man who tried to throw you behind bars for years. Look, we can activate Echo. I’ll get a hold of Goemon and catch a plane over there. Fujiko can get a safe house ready and Ami can start on the paperwork. Pack your bags.”

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no! I’m not packing my bags. I’m not running.”

“You’re being childish, Lupin. This is Zenigata we’re talking about. He’s not going to let you go.”

“But he might, Jigen. He might let it go. It’s a risk, I know, but that’s what I do, Jigen, that’s what I’ve always done.” Lupin ran his hand through his hair. “Yata is the wild card here, I can’t do anything about him. But Pops can. Pops can convince Yata that I’m not a threat, that I have – for lack of a better term – reformed.”

“And what makes you think Pops will intervene on your behalf?”

“Because he’s a father!”

Lupin glanced up at the ceiling and listened for the sound of small feet hitting the floor. When there was none, he continued. “Pops has a kid, a kid he never got to see grow up because he was always chasing me. But we both know he never stopped loving her.”

Lupin had only seen Toshiko Zenigata twice: once when her father was first assigned to his case, and the second was at her graduation (which had made sure her father attended as well). Zenigata’s family life had been falling apart before he started chasing Lupin, but Lupin’s antics only exacerbated the process. The inspector was constantly traveling and rarely went home. His daughter grew up without him.

Still fulfilling his role as devil’s advocate, Jigen said, “And if he still decides to turn you in?”

“Then you and Goemon have to make him regret that.”

“Lupin, I’m not killing him. I’m retired.”

“No, I – don’t do that,” Lupin spluttered. “No killing: that was always the unspoken rule. Just, I don’t know, mess with him.”

“Oh, I can do that.”

“And Yata.”

“And Yata. What about Albert?”

“Well if I’m in custody then my cover is blown wide open so…”

“Done. I’ve been waiting for years to mess with him.”

Lupin smiled. “Thanks, Jigen.”

“I’m not doing that last one as a favor. The guy deserves it.”

“I’m not complaining.”

The two friends lapsed into silence. Lupin could picture Jigen: sitting at the end of his bed in that stupid nightshirt of his, his hair a little thinner and beard a little grayer, a pile of cigarettes stuffed into an ashtray. When Lupin had first broken the news to Jigen that he was going to raise Ari and Ren, he had expected Jigen to argue. He had expected Jigen to try and talk him out of it. Instead, Jigen disappeared for a few hours before returning and offering any help he could give in Lupin’s new endevour.

“Jigen?”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, I thought that maybe the call dropped.”

“Naw, I’m still here,” Jigen yawned. “Though I would like to get at least another hour of sleep.”

Lupin smiled. “You go back to sleep then. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“You better call me, you idiot.”

Lupin tapped the end call icon and placed the phone on the table. Jigen wouldn't be going back to sleep, he'd be throwing his things in a bag and heading for the airport. He'd show up at the door sometime in the next day or two. Lupin guessed he wouldn't be getting much sleep either, but he had a nice book and a nice bottle of wine. He should probably try and reach Goemon and update him on the situation, but he was probably sitting under a waterfall or something. Fujiko should also be updated. Ami probably already knew; she was in regular contact with Pops and if he hadn't called her already he was going to do so and ask if she had known about Lupin all along.

The retired thief poured out the last of his wine and stood up. He was supposed to send some quotes to clients in the morning, and work on that Hudson Valley painting that had come in. And it would be Tuesday, and on Tuesdays Ren had field hockey and Ari had soccer. Ren had a game this weekend, and Lupin had agreed to bring orange slices.

Lupin chuckled quietly and turned out the lights. He really had gone domestic, hadn't he?


End file.
